Moon's Claim
by Lucinda
Summary: Young Remus Lupin is attacked by a beast.


author: Lucinda  
rating: pg 13  
main character: Remus Lupin  
Disclaimer: I hold no legal rights to any characters from JK Rowlings Harry Potter books.  
Distribution: Paula and Jen yes, anyone else must ask  
Summary: young Remus Lupin is attacked by a beast  
note: set roughly 30 years before the Harry Potter book main events. Remus is 8.  
He'd ignored his mother's voice calling him back to the house. He'd been so busy playing in the forest that was behind their home, splashing his toes in the small stream, laughing as the little fish darted away that he hadn't wanted to go home yet. Mommy and Dad would just make him take a bath to wash all the dirt away, and send him to bed. But Remus Lupin was a very energetic and active boy. He didn't feel the least bit tired Well, maybe a little tired, but not tired enough to go to sleep.  
  
Remus grinned as he heard his mother call him yet again. She didn't sound worried, and he'd done his chores already, so why should he go back inside? The night was fairly warm, and the full moon gave him plenty of light to see by. He could still play. Grinning, he watched the fireflies move through the air, and splashed after one. He kept chasing them, the tiny bugs just a little to fast for him. Determined to catch at least one, Remus kept after them, ending up in a small clearing, clumps of taller greenery that seemed so harmless in the sunshine now scary mounds of darkness, rustling in the night. He shivered, suddenly not so happy anymore.  
  
The gentle breeze that had been so welcome during the afternoon was making him cold now, making his skin go all bumpy and numb. Rubbing his arms, he tried to remember where he'd left his shoes, knowing that his parents would be mad if he lost another pair. Remus was quite ready to go back inside now. A twig snapped in the darkness under a shrub.  
  
Remus spun around, part of him wanting to run away. He tried to look into the darkness, part of him expecting nothing more than a bunny or a deer. There weren't really terrible monsters out at night like his older cousin had said... right? No real Mugwuppers and Snailixes or Boy-Snatchers...  
  
A low growl emerged from the shrub, and it didn't sound the least like a rabbit. It sounded like something big and scary with sharp teeth. It sounded like something that wanted to eat a small boy who stayed out to late to play.  
  
With a short, high pitched shriek, Remus spun around, running towards his house. Something was under that shrub, and it was a very bad something. A big, mean, dangerous something. He was terrified and wanted his dad to make everything better, even if he had to do a week of extra chores for playing past his bedtime. He ran, his little feet making small thumping noises against the ground. The something was chasing him, and there were faint little clicking noises, sort of like the sound of a dog's claws, but somehow scarier. He ran, hoping that he could get away, wishing that he'd listened to him mother.  
  
The thing was getting closer, and he could still hear it growling. Now, he could feel it's breath against his back, hot and smelling really bad, sour and nasty, almost like something left out too long in the hot sun. He had the sudden terrible certainty that he wouldn't make it home in time... Gathering his breath, he screamed, hoping, praying that he could get help. "DAD!!!"  
  
The next moment, hot pain ripped into his legs. He screamed again as he tumbled to the ground, something warm and wet flowing down the back of his leg. He could hear himself whimpering as he tried to curl himself up, trying to pull as much of himself inwards as possible, terrified that he was going to die. That this thing would tear him to little pieces and eat him up, just like the big bad wolf in all the fairy tales. It growled again, and swatted him, sending him tumbling across more rocks and tree roots than he'd had any idea could be in one place, smacking into a tree. His head was ringing, and there were spots in his eyes, but he looked up, seeing the thing that was about to kill him.  
  
It looked almost like a wolf, but it wasn't. It's shoulders were higher than it's hips, and the thing was almost as tall as he was. Dark fur bristled over slabs of muscle, and it had huge curving talon claws. Yellowed fangs filled it's mouth, and drool glistened in the moonlight, dangling from one lip. It growled at him again as it came closer. It almost looked like it knew what it was doing, almost looking like some sort of terrible bully that enjoyed scaring people before hurting them.  
  
Remus screamed again, terrified. The not-wolf lunged at him, the cruel yellowed fangs bared as it made an noise he could only call a howl. The teeth sank into his arm, making it flare with pain before going... not quite numb, but it wouldn't move. It felt heavy and almost hot. He screamed again, the shriek fading into pitiful whimpers and tears streamed down his face. Remus didn't want to die.  
  
The thing growled around his arm, before shaking it's head, the force lifting him up. It shook him like a rag-doll, the action making the teeth tear into his arm. It wasn't numb anymore, now his arm was filled with a terrible burning pain.  
  
Just as Remus was certain the wolf-thing would shake him apart, he heard footsteps, and his father's voice, shouting something. Everything went a bit hard to follow, both of his parents shouting spells and the thing snarling and growling. It had dropped him, his head connecting to the ground painfully. His head was pounding and his arm and leg burned. Everything else felt shaken and bruised.  
  
He lay on the ground, tears falling over his cheeks and small noises of pain coming from him. The growling monster left, and he was gathered up into his father's arms. He pulled himself close with his good arm, crying and saying over and over again "I'm sorry I didn't come inside when mummy called I'm sorry"  
  
Remus just sat there, feeling small and hurt and very naughty. He'd lost his shoes, and been hurt by something and his parents looked very upset. His Dad was in the other room, pacing and using the sort of Bad Words that he'd been told he mustn't ever say. He'd had his mouth washed out with soap for just once using one of those words... His mother the Nurse-Witch was looking at his injuries, treating them with potions and charms, but... Her face was very pale, and there were tears running down her face.  
  
Something was very wrong with the whole thing. His injuries were healing well, and he'd first thought that his parents would be happy about that, but... For some reason, they only got this odd pale worried look. They would whisper a bit, when he couldn't quite hear them. He could catch little bits and pieces, something about this being terrible, and changing everything, and they wanted to try to hide it from the neighbors. Remus felt like there was a cold knot inside him every time he heard that. Had he really made them that angry by not coming inside? Had he been so naughty that they would never forgive him? He couldn't quite get the courage to ask.  
  
It wasn't until almost a month after the attack that he got some sort of idea what was going on. His parents took him away to this cave, and sent him inside. Part of him was excited, eager to explore. But his parents didn't go inside with him, and they seemed very worried about something. Then he heard some soft chanting, and a sparkling barrier, like a wall of fireflies sprang up over the front of the cave, separating him from his parents. He reached out, but the wall of light shocked him, leaving his hand all numbish and tingling.  
  
"Mom? Dad? What... Did I do something bad?" He couldn't quite understand why they were doing this to him.  
  
His mother gasped, and hid her face against his father, sobbing. His father just paled a bit, and looked as if he was trying to find the words for an answer. There were a few moments of painful silence.  
  
The sun slipped below the horizon, leaving nothing but the light of the full moon, a large orange gold mass just over the horizon. Something went through him, as if his bones were shivering. Then the pain began, as if instead of shivering his bones were stretching, twisting and popping. Remus screamed again, the pain a horrible surprise. Had they known about this? What was this anyhow? His hand was twisting, the skin becoming darker, fingers shorter and his nails darker, becoming almost curved claws...  
  
The next thing Remus knew, he was waking up on the stone floor of the cave. His clothing was gone, and he was shivering. There were harsh scratches and welts over his body, and bruises over his arms and shoulders. He remembered the horrible feeling of his bones shifting, and then the image of the not-wolf that had attacked him. It had been a full moon that night as well...  
  
It all made sense to him then. The thing had been a werewolf, and now he was one too. Remus Lupin, werewolf. The idea made him want to laugh and cry all at the same time. He understood now what his parents had meant... everything was different now, terribly different. If anyone found out... People would hate him.  
  
The only thing that he could be certain of now was that he would have to be very careful to keep track of the moon. He was the moon's now, doomed to become a beast every time the moon became full. Doomed.  
  
end Moon's Claim. 


End file.
